Floor-clamp



FEDE,

i JAMES L. OLOUGH, OF SUFFIELL GONNEGUCUT.

Specification of Letters Patent No, 32,120, dated April 28, 1861.

ing a part of this specification, in which-I Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine in operation. Fig. 2 is aside view of the same, and Fig. 3 a view of a portion of the machine in detail. j

It is the design of my invention to produce a mechanical device for'holding licor boards or ship plank in their proper place till they can be confined by nails or other permanent fastening. For instance in laying a floor if a board or plank is crooked, instead of straightening it by sawing oft a portion from each side, l lay the concave edge against the board or plank last laid, and apply a pressure to the other edge suflicient to bring the board to its proper place and thereby save the waste in sawing, and also the trouble and time used in such an operation provided my devicefor straightening is more convenient than sawing, and it is such a device that I claim to have invented.

A, B, are two parallel plates or jaws con nected by the two parallel bars C, C pivoting on the pins a., a, and bf.

D, is a hand lever attached to the jaw A by the pin d, as a fulcrum.

E, is a pressure bar attached to the lever D, by pine, and having a flat foot g, is a pawl working in a ratchet on the lever D, to hold it in place.

F, is a floor timber and operated upon.

The plate B, is seen more clearly in Fig. 3, which shows the teeth -or projections on its inner surface, thereby differing in that respect from A, which is smooth, 2'. e., has no projections to operate as teeth.

Now the operation is as follows, having adjusted the distance between the faces of A, and B, as nearly to the thickness of the floor timberas possible, by means of the pin holes in the bars C, C.-Place the machine on one of the floor timbers, (running at Gr, a board being right angles to the boards,)bringing the tim ber between the plates, A, B, and the foot of the pressure bar against the edge of the board to be straightened, the lever D, being thrown back to a perpendicular position. Now by pulling forward on the top of lever D, the jaw plate A, is slipped back on the timber, thus gradually drawing the two parallel faces of the jaw plates nearer together until they grip the floor timber suiiiciently to form a permanent fulcrum for the lever D, the teeth on the face of B, only serving to hold B, from slipping when the force is first `applied to the lever, as after the gripping of the timber commences, the more foi'ce there is applied to the lever the more firmly the machine gi'asps the timber, there fore the teeth need not be large enough to injure the timber as is often done by driving in dogs or spikes. Now supposing the workman to have found a board that has become crooked since it was sawed and it is desir able to spring it back, he lays it down as before stated the concave edge against the edge of the Vboard last laid. He next starts in some nails 1n suitable positions to vhit the floor timbers, then takes the grip and placing it on the timber about opposite the center of the crook in the board, pulls on the hand lever with his left hand, thus springing the board into place and drives the nails with his right hand at the saine time. In case it is not convenient to operate `the machine with one hand the pawl g can and utility in this machine are, first, thev facility with which it can be adjusted to any thickness of floor timber; secondly, the convenience in applying it at any point in the length of the timber, without injury to the timber; thirdly, the cheapness of its construction, all of these qualities combining to form a cheap, useful and effective machine for the use for which it is designed.

Now having fully described the construction and operation of my invention, what I 2. The combination of the lever D, presclaiin as new and desire to secure by Letters sure bar E, and jaw plates A and B substan- Patent istially as herein described.

l. The jaw plates A, and B, connected by JAMES L. CLOUGH. '5 one or more bars C, C, When constructed 1Witnesses:

substantially as here shown and used for the WILLIAM R. RIDDLE, purpose substantially as herein described. MILTON BRADLEY. 

